The primary message for the Chatham County Commission when it meets this morning is just say no.

The issue is proposed salary increases for commission members and the chairman.

A proposal on the commissioners’ agenda would increase the base salary for commissioners by 44 percent to $25,000 and the chairman’s by 15 percent to $57,500.

Part of the justification for the proposal is a salary study from 2007. That study, which cost more than $135,000, recommended pay hikes for all county employees, but those increases were never approved.

For commissioners, specifically, the study found the average salary in Georgia counties with similar populations was $24,806, compared to $17,639 in Chatham. It found the average salary for commission chairmen was $59,114, compared to $48,782 in Chatham.

The study recommended a base pay between $22,000 to $25,000 for Chatham’s commissioners, along with a proportional increase for the chairman.

County Manager Russ Abolt has argued that it’s important to ensure adequate pay to attract qualified candidates for the commission and deter the potential for corruption.

“They are not being made wealthy by it but also not suffering as a result of the service,” Abolt has said.

Abolt’s argument is a cliche that has been trotted out innumerable times to try to justify pay hikes for elected officials at all levels and all parts of government, whether it’s a school board, city council, a state legislature or a house of Congress.

And it’s bogus. A variety of motives may drive individuals to run for public office — a belief in public service, a particular cause or ego gratification — the paycheck never has been proven to be a key factor. Nor has the amount of the paycheck been effective in preventing corruption.

One thing to remember is that state law allows salary adjustments to be considered at the end of the commmission’s four-year term, and the proposed increases would take effect when the new board takes its seat in January.

Of course, five of the current board members set to consider the increase have been re-elected and will join the new commissioners next month.

And, yes, they would get the pay hike along with incoming members Lori Brady, Tony Center, Yusuff Shabazz and chairman-elect Al Scott.

What do the incumbents have to say about it?

Helen Stone says commissioners deserve a raise but hasn’t decided whether she supports the amount proposed, and James Holmes supports it because of the length of time since the previous increase.

Pat Farrell said he hasn’t made up his mind while David Gellatly is against it and Dean Kicklighter supports it.

Outgoing commissioner Pat Shay said some increase is warranted but hasn’t decided whether he supports the proposal.

As for outgoing commission Chairman Pete Liakakis: He supports the increases and says they’re warranted due to the amount of time commissioners spend representing their constituents, which includes events outside of the two board meetings each month.

So that amounts to four members who “favor” or support an increase plus Liakakis, enough to pass the raises.

They should not do that. Their arguments in favor suggest they’ve isolated themselves from the context of what’s happening in the greater community.

It has nothing to do with whether they’re deserving or have to put in significant hours. It has everything to do with leadership and recognition of what’s happening in the sectors of the county each of them represents.

How does it look for the “bosses” to get a raise when the rest of the county’s employees don’t.

And how does it look for elected officials to vote themselves a raise — yes, despite the technicality of term endings, that’s what would happen — while the community they represent is only slowly recovering from the effects of the recent recession.

Too many people are still unemployed in Chatham County, and even many of those who are employed have seen benefits and salaries reduced or, at best, left stagnant.

It’s about appearances. And it’s about leadership. So, no. This is not the time for members of the county commission to get a pay raise.

Just say no.

P.S.

One other item on today’s county commission agenda is worth mentioning. It has to do with a proposed hotel at the Savannah Convention and Trade Center and reads like this:

What that means is commission members are expected to get the results of a report they commissioned in late October to review and update previous economic and feasibility studies for the proposed hotel. No action is expected.

The updates and reviews were requested by commissioners on Oct. 9 as part of a motion to extend an agreement with the preferred developer, Hutchinson Hotel Holdings, which would build a 500-room hotel near the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center using a combination of private financing and county-backed bonds.

It was the third time the agreement was extended since it was originally approved in August 2011.

Using public money to help finance such a project is a bad idea and, hopefully, the commission that will convene in January will allow the project to die the death it deserves.

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Chief of SCMPD makes more than the Chief of Police in Dallas TX
but the officers of SCMPD make 20000 dollars less than the officers of Dallas TX...How is that possible..oh yeah thats why SCMPD has lost about 30 officers in the past 2 months...